Structure for use in making stencil-cards.



E. D. BELKNAP.

STRUCTURE FOR USE IN MAKING STENCIL CARDS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 6,1917- Patented Feb. 19, 1918.

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EDWIN D. BELKNAP, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

STRUCTURE FOR USE IN MAKING STENCIL-CARDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 19, 1918.

Application filed July 6, 1917. Serial No. 179,101.

To all whom it may concern: I,

Be it known that I, EDWIN D. BELKNAP, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at East Orange, county of Essex, Stateof New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Structures for Use in Making Stencil-Cards, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the manufacture of stencil cards foruse in addressing machines and for Similar purposes, and is particularly designed to facilitate the manufacture of such tencil cards as are described in my prior Patent No. 1,198,691, issued September .19, 1916, with particular reference to the structure composed of the parts marked 5 and 6 in the drawing of said patent. The stencil card there shown, as usually made, is so flexible as to be a little diflicult of handlin in typewriting machines in which the car s are formed into tencils. Furthermore the stencilizable material which is of the general nature described .in U. S. Patent No. 1,101,242, granted to Frank D. Belknap, June 23, 1914, is so delicate and translucent that the portions of its filling displaced by the action of the type in the typewriting machine in the formation of the stencil card produce such a slight visible change that it is difficult to read the characters so formed unless some special means is employed for rendering them specially legible. M present invention overcomes these difficulties in a simple manner and secures other advantages hereinafter to be more fully set out.

The best form of apparatus at present known to me embodying my invention is illustrated in the accompanying sheet of drawings in which Figure 1 is a face view of the completed structure.

Fig. 2 is a detail view of one of the main elements, and V Fig. 3 is a detail view of the other of the main elements of the combination.

Throughout the drawings like reference figures indicate like parts.

1, is a strip of flexible material which I will call the frame strip, it being cut away with a series of uniform rectangular openin s 2, 2, so that the strip so out forms in substance a connected series of frames for the stencil cards to be formed. Usually these strips 1, are formed of some tough flexible paper or thin flexible cardboard. 3, represents the stencilizable sheet which is pasted or otherwise caused to firmly adhere to the back of the perforated strip 1, and substantially coextensive therewith. This material 3, is usually Yoshino paper treated in substantially the manner set out in the above mentioned patent to Frank D. Belknap, so that the coating or filling material may be displaced by the blow of the typewriting machine sufliciently to permit printing ink to pass therethrough' and create a stencilizing action.

4, is a backing strip usually of heavier material such as heavy cardboard which is, however, still suiliciently flexible to be easily run through the typewriting machine. This backing 4, i opaque, (while th material 3, is translucent to a degree) an is substantially coextensive with the strip 1, being fastened to said strip 1, preferably at one end only as at the end 6.

Preferably the backing strip 4, is also pro- 7 vided with sets of parallel registration lines 5, 5, which may be connected by vertical lines 7, 7, at their ends, which sets of registration lines are arranged to register with the rectangular openings 2, 2, as indicated in dotted linesin Fig. 1. These lines are marked in black ink or other color sufficiently pronounced to show through the translucent stencilizable material 3.

In using my invention the completed structure shown in Fig. 1 is fed through the typewriting machine beginning at the end 6,

with the stencilizable mate-rial 3, presented to the face of the operating type. The operator can then easily preserve the correct alinement of the written characters on the registration lines 5, 5, and being guided by the vertical lines 7, 7, can preserve the proper border between the ends of the written lines and the edges of the frame strip. After the entire strip of cards is written they are separated one from another by cutting them apart along the lines 8, 8, and they are then ready for use in the structure shown in my above mentioned Patent No. 1,198,691. A new frame strip with attached sheet of stencilizable material may then be fastened to the backing strip and the operation repeated over and over again until the backing strip finally is completely worn out, which does not occur until after some hundreds of repetitions of the operation.

The advantage of my invention comprise the convenient handling of the cards in the typewriting machine which conduces to rapid operation, the accurate spacin of the written matter and the ease with w 'ch the stenciled characters may be read against the background of the opaque strip so as to promptly disclose any errors made in the writing and avoid duplication or omission of any names in the list being copied. It is evident that various changes could be made in the details of construction above described without departing from the principle of the invention here disclosed and that certain sub combinations of elements described could be utilized to good advantage without necessarily employin others.

Having descri ed my invention, I claim:

As anarticle of manufacture, a tape-like strip of material flexible enough to be con- 1,a ammo veniently run through a typewriting ma.- chine but stifi' enough to serve as a frame for stencil card blanks, said strip having a series of rectangular cutout portions and transverse lines 'for division between said cutout 1 C. F. Parson, J. E. PAVEB. 

